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Welcome to my Polish blog! My Polish great grandpa was orphaned during the Chicago flu epidemic of 1918 & spent his life looking for all of his siblings. Some family stayed in Chicago & some returned to Poland. Some family was Catholic, & some are believed to be Jewish. I post the things I learn in efforts it may help someone else in their research. I also hope this blog helps me connect with others that know about the people I'm learning about. Digital images of records or links are put inside most postings so you can view records full screen. I encourage comments. Feel free to sign the guestbook, stating who you're looking for. Maybe we can all help each other out this way, because there are many challenges with Polish research. I hope you enjoy learning with me. And I hope to be taught more about my Polish heritage.I have added a few languages to this blog through Google translate. I hope that it may be accurate enough with the communication of ideas. Thanks! -Julie

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25 July 2010

Note: 3 Aug 2010. I did order the microfilm. I should see it 2-3 weeks. Then I will update this post.

Today I was looking on the PGSA website again. I saw something I had seen before, but a notation was added since I last looked at this information. So this web page shows Jozef Sanetra was born in Chicago, 25 Sep 1912. Jozef is pictured in the top right corner of my blog, standing in the doorway of a house he built for himself. He is listed with the middle name of Michal. This birth record is at Holy Trinity Church, in Chicago. It is located on film number 1703799, item 2, page 120, volume 10, enumeration #837. I will try to get this microfilm to get this actual record, because of it's unique notation. The index says Adam Sanetra was the father and Rosalie Wandzel was the mother. The note that stood out to me, I now have to find out what it means! It says under notes, "mom was Maslonka". So I started trying to think what this could mean. Could she have been married before she married Adam Sanetra? No, she was pretty young. So I went to recalculate how old she was when she married Adam Sanetra. She was only 14 and a half! So that was very young. Then I worried I had made a mistake on the dates. I looked at Rosalie's death certificate and our parish records and family letters again. They all show that Rosalie was born in Aug of 1885 and married Adam Sanetra in Feb 1900. I guess I just never did the math before, to realize she was so young! Rosalie died at age 33, having had 6 children. So Rosalie was born Wandzel, then was Sanetra from the time of marrying Adam in Feb 1900 to her death in Oct 1918. So then why would she be listed as Maslonka? and when? Her death certificates, her children and the parish records all said and knew her maiden name was Wandzel. (sometimes written as Vondzel).

I tried to brainstorm ideas with my mom and grandma. We know other people who have married this young, but it is much less common. Grandma asked what was going on politically, religiously then. My only theory that could make sense, is that I have been told the name Wandzel sounds Jewish. Whether it is or isn't wouldn't have mattered so much. What mattered is what people assumed. And assumptions often led to persecution if their name sounded Jewish. So could Rosalie have used the name Maslonka to sound more Catholic? Could she have married young, because marrying a man (Adam Sanetra) known to be Catholic with a Catholic sounding name offered protection? This is the only possible theory I can think of. If anyone has any other possible theory, please let me know. Right now, we know Rosalie Wandzel married Adam Sanetra in a Catholic church in Zablocie Poland. Her parents and grandparents names are listed on the registry record. We know the names of Rosalie's siblings, but that is all. So we do not know for sure yet whether Rosalie was born Jewish or Catholic. We just know for a fact that she married Adam in a Catholic church. I am still looking for Rosalie or her family on any record that would tell us their religion. I have found Wandzels from Zywiec and Zablocie on Concentration camp records. But that does not mean they are Jewish either. This is just all new information for me and I don't really know how to find records to prove religion yet, so I know where the rest of the family records are. Rosalie's family is not in the same parish records as Adam Sanetra's family. So was she in a different parish? Or was she another religion? I hope to know one way or the other some day. I did find someone with the name Wandzel from Zywiec, and his family was Catholic. But it looks like records can go either way for Rosalie Wandzel's family.

18 July 2010

Note added 25 Jul 2010.- I asked my grandma why Kasimierz Bazarnik seemed to be an exception to the rule. We brainstormed ideas. Grandma remembered that men got citizenship during WWII. Kasimierz is on the WWII draft card, not listed as alien. So this is a very likely possibility, of why Kasimir doesn't have his naturalization number written over his immigration information on the Ellis Island manifest. Note: Click on the images in this posting to view full screen.
There is a new database on Ancestry.com that has been very helpful to me. It is still in the early stages. I keep finding new people each time I search it. I was told that the numbers written on the Ellis Island manifest, were a naturalization number. Now I have found a record to show this is true. I'm going to give two examples, one of a person who became a citizen and one who did not. This first database I want to tell you about, is a database called, "Selected U.S. Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791-1966 (Indexed in World Archives Project)" The following record groups are in this database: 1) Connecticut 2) Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa (where my Chicago records have been found) 3) Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont 4) New York 5) Rhode Island

This is the source info on Ancestry.com. Here is the link to the full information page about this database. http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1629 It is being done by volunteers. Here's a paragraph from this page with the embedded links: Ancestry.com. Selected U.S. Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791-1966 (Indexed in World Archives Project) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Projectcontributors in partnership with the following organizations

This first example is my great, great grandfather Adam Sanetra. Here is his index card in the database I just discussed above. Next is Adam's actual court papers. He started it, but then his wife Rosalie died, 3 children (Paul, Ervin and Stanley) got lost by the orphanage, and one daughter Branislawa ("Bessie") got lost during immigration. Then Adam made a big mistake. He left the country, and he wasn't supposed to, during the time awaiting citizenship. After his wife died and he'd now lost 4 children out of 6, he didn't want to loose any more family. So he took his new bride Alfreda Mazurkiewicz and his two sons Bronislaw ("Bennie") and Jozef back to Poland, and lived by his sister Maria, in Zywiec. Then he came back soon after, in 1923, to try to finish his citizenship. But he was denied. He signed an oath (when he applied) that he wouldn't leave the country. And his story about loosing his children probably wouldn't have been believed by immigration officials. After being denied citizenship and not being able to find his children, he went back home to Poland the remainder of his life. Alfreda never came back to the US, and you can see no numbers next to her name on Ellis Island. She traveled with her sister Anna Baranowski and nephew Kasimierz Bazarnik.

If you notice, there are not any numbers by Adam's name. Now here's something that confused me. On the index, it says Adam Sanetra was naturalized on 9 Apr 1926. But he was not. If you look at the fourth page, right above this text, you will see on the 9 April 1926, the court denied him citizenship. Maybe that field really means the date the court decides whether he is a citizen or not? Even if someone is denied citizenship, you can still apply for the application. And you can see from these 4 pages all the important information on this record. There is a number written by Adam, but I'm not sure what it means, on the 1923 record. It is 3-4713. I don't see that number on the index or naturalization paperwork.
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Next example is Matilda Molinowski, Kasimierz Bazarnik's wife. Here is Matilda's card, from the Ancestry.com database. I love that the birth date is given on the index. http://www.ellisisland.org/search/shipManifest.asp?MID=16227133940260322368&pID=101358050209&lookup=101358050209&show=\\192.168.100.11\images\T715-1490\T715-14900412.TIF&origFN=\\192.168.100.11\IMAGES\T715-1490\T715-14900411.TIF
So if you look at the index card, upper right corner, there's the number 11-264467. Then if you look at the Ellis Island link of the ship manifest, look at Matilda, which is line 11...after her name, there's 4 smaller boxes, then in the next bigger box is the matching number 11-264467, followed by the date 17 Sep 1940. The index card says date of naturalization was 21 Mar 1941. Maybe the September date was the court date, and the certificate was written and awarded in March? One thing we can see from this record, is that only Tekla, Felicia and Matilda in this family were naturalized. And we have their file numbers. I don't know Tekla and Felicia's married names or marriage dates yet, but I might find them with this number. Although on the 1920 Felix is living with his daughter Felicia and her husband which looks like Lucyan Borejszo, which is how it is indexed. Yet if you look close at the witness on Matilda's record, there is a Felicia living at the same address as Matilda, so she may be the sister remarried? I will keep looking through records to find more on that. On the Ancestry.com database, I was doing searches by the year 1910, when Matilda and her family immigrated. It doesn't show up on the cards, but on the text index (in search results), on Ancestry.com, I searched by the name Felicia, in 1910. I saw several, but none of them had the immigration date of 30 May 1910, which was when Felicia immigrated. This is still a very new database, so I will check back soon.

This is another place naturalization records are listed for Chicago: http://www.cookcountyclerkofcourt.org/NR/default.aspx, Adam Sanetra is in this database. The Bazarnik's are not. There is a lot of helpful information on this site about the process of naturalization.

There is no number by Kasimierz on the ship manifest, but there is next to his mother Anna. Anna's husband Ignace Baranowski started his naturalization. But he died before the process was finished. At that time, when the husband applied, he applied for everyone in his family, spouse and children under age. Anna did not finish the naturalization. I believe she died about the same time her husband did, in the flu epidemic, or else I think she would have identified and had a funeral for her husband. Yet I know from the death certificate she did not. And Kasimierz was on the SSDI (Social Security Death Index), so I would expect he became a citizen. So maybe they meant to write this number next to Kasimierz, instead of his mother? Here is Kasimierz card from the database on Ancestry.com. There is no number in the upper right corner. Maybe that was done on later records, after 1940? Or maybe it was accidentally omitted? Maybe Kasimierz applied 24 Dec 1935 (date on the manifest), and became a citizen 19 Mar 1940 (date on index card) ? That is my best guess for now.

Footnote.com is another site I love and search a lot. It took me a month, paperwork to fill in, and over 20$ to get the record for Adam in this posting. But footnote has these records digitized and available by searching the database. I like footnote's way better! I have seen records in New York and Ohio on footnote.com. They may have more.
I hope this may be of help to someone searching for their ancestors naturalization/citizenship records. There is a lot of valuable information on these records. If you don't find your family in these records, keep checking back. These databases are brand new, and just in the beginning stages. Footnote.com, Ancestry.com, familysearch pilot page (the best for searching Ellis Island records, with direct links to the manifest pages) http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=0, are all regularly updating their databases by the millions. The pilot page just added 30 million records last month. The Chicago link I put above is also still in beginning phases.

I kept searching and searching for a Matilda, since I saw she was listed as Kazimierz wife on his WWII draft card. Finally found her this weekend! I decided to do another search on Gary, Indiana genealogy, since the SSDI (social security death index) lists Gary, Indiana as Kazimierz last place of residence. I saw something new to me. This PDF compilation of marriage records by the Lake County Historical Society (In Indiana). It said marriage book index 1837-1920. Kazimierz and Matilda were married in 1922, yet they were on this list somehow. Here's the link: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~innwigs/Archives/MarriageIndex-Lake-Groom/Lake-Marriages-Groom-B.pdf
Open the link. Then in the "find box" type Bazarnik, and the name will be highlighted for you. So this record says: book #46, page # 257, license # 064056, application record 189, groom: Kasimir Bazarnik, bride: Matilda Malinoski, application date: 12 Aug 1922, return date: 5 Sep 1922, marriage date: 12 Aug 1922, marrying official: Howard K. Kemp JP (justice of the peace), Herbert L. Wheaton clerk.

I have Matilda's naturalization index and her family on the 1920 Census. I'll post that in the next posting. More on Matilda and her family in my next post, within the next day or so...So far I still can't find Kasimierz on the 1920, or 1930 Census. He lived in Chicago, was in Detroit on the WWI draft card, then married in Gary, Lake, Indiana in 1922, was at the 1058 Marshfield address in 1923, then in the 1940's living at 2555 Cortez St (on WWII draft & both Kazimierz and Matilda's naturalization records.). Then Kazimierz' last address on SSDI was Gary, Indiana.

05 July 2010

Adolf Sanetra is son of Bronislaw Sanetra and Julia Matuszek. A special thank you to him for these pictures. He is also pictured at the top of my blog, bottom center, in uniform. Adolf has kept homing pigeons most of his life and has entered them in flight competitions. They fly as far away as Germany and Belgium. Adolf also enjoys gardening. I find these things fascinating! Posting with love, admiration and best wishes for my Polish cousin. -Love, Julie

04 July 2010

Cynthia at Genlighten (as "chicagogenealogy") helped me find this record. http://www.genlighten.com/profiles/chicagogenealogy I was just stumped looking for Ignace, and was very grateful she found this for me. I thought this death certificate was about a year too late to be my Ignace, but I couldn't find anything remotely close, so I kept it until I could figure things out better. My first thought when I saw it, was, "how sad, no one came to claim him, they kept him for a month to be identified." I figured that meant lots of his family died in the flu epidemic. Then with all the unknowns listed, I thought, "that sounds like my family, everything unknown." So for several months of searching, I have not been able to find anything more on Ignace or his wife Anna. And Ignace Baranowski is a pretty rare name in our country. In fact, the only Ignace Baranowski I've found records for, is my Ignace. I can't find hardly any of my Chicago Sanetra's in 1920. Possibly because of the missing, but later added Census records. And those Census records aren't on Ancestry.com, footnote or familysearch. I see Paul Sanetra, on the farm he was sent to. I see Bennie and Joe in the orphanage. I see Karol Janik, Julia and her 3 boys at 1058 Marshfield. But no Adam, no Alfreda, (and they married that year), no Ignace, no Anna, no Kasmierz. None of Adam Sanetra's other children: Stanley, Bessie or Ervin. So today I drew out a timeline for Ignace, and I am now convinced this death record is my Ignace Baranowski. I had thought the draft cards were in 1919, but now that I see these were in 1918, the record does fit.

Ignace Baranowski & Anna Mazukiewicz timeline:

1881- Ignace is born 9 Apr 1881 in Poland (Anna is born abt 1876)

1913- About March, Ignace marries Anna Mazurkiewicz

1913- 16 Aug 1913 arrives in the United States

1914- 31 Jan 1914 Anna, her son Kazmierz Bazarnik & her sister Alfreda Mazurkiewicz arrive in the United States. Living at 518 Osbourne Ave in Chicago.

1915-1916- City directories list him at 518 Osborne Ave.

1918- 15 Jun 1918 Kasmierz Bazarnik lists his mother Anna as his person of contact at the Marshfield address. He is working in Detroit under an assumed name to keep his job.

1918- 12 Sep 1918 World War I draft card-living at 1058 Marshfield Ave with Karol Janik. Anna is listed as living with Ignace on both the naturalization and WWI record.

This draft card is the last record I can account for either Anna or Ignace.

On the 1920 Census, Ignace is no longer with Karol and Julia's family. I have Karol on the Census with the Marshfield address. Ignace is no longer on city directories. He did not finish his naturalization. Rozalia Wandzel (Adam Sanetra's first wife) died in Oct 1918 of the big Chicago flu epidemic. So I figured it was highly likely Ignace and Anna died in the flu epidemic about the same time. I am now convinced this record is the death certificate for Ignace Baranowski, Adam Sanetra's brother-in-law. (Adam and Ignatz lived at the same 1058 Marshfield address.) I'm still not sure about Anna. It is possible she remarried, but I find it highly unlikely, or I would think she would have identified her husband's body. Click on picture to view full screen.
The cemetery listed is Oak Forest Cemetery, in Chicago. Also known as the Cook County poorhouse cemetery. I will try to find a phone number to confirm Ignace is in the cemetery records and see if by chance there's a record of Anna here too. I know he's not in a family plot, but they may have died about the same time, since he was not identified. I'll add the information I find to this post later. See this link about the cemetery: http://ssghs.org/oak_%20forest_%20hospital_%20cemetery.htm

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Naturalization info help

See posting 18 Jul 2010 for links, explanations and JPEG image examples explaining how I have found naturalization records.

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Chicago Census Maps & Chicago street grid (address) changes

If you have an address, you can look up your family on the Census through Census maps. Which for immigrant names, is often an easier way to find families. See more on the posting 1 Oct 2009, or the tag "census maps".
Also, there were major changes to Chicago addresses in 1909 & 1911. See the posting for 1 Jan 2010.